Gamble House Sconce, From CAD to Mahogany

I spent a bit of time yesterday morning tweaking my CAD model to sort out the problems I was still seeing. I fixed the critical issues — the glass rebate, joinery allowances, and the exaggerated cloud lifts. I added the bracket on the top and decided it was close enough to start cutting parts.

Gamble House Inglenook Sconce Version 3

I didn’t have any Mahogany wide enough to make the roof, even after a stop a Global Wood Source. They have a ton of Honduras Mahogany, but short of buying a 12′ stick of 8/4 material I didn’t see any that was 10″ wide. I bought one 6″ wide by 8′ long piece of 4/4, although it had more cathedral grain than I wanted. I hope it isn’t too noticeable. I wanted nice, straight grain on this project. For the roof I re-sawed a scrap of 8/4 I had in the shop, bookmatched, and glued it up.

Scrap Re-sawn for Roof

Then I started milling up stock for the rails and stiles. I’m concerned about the cathedral grain in this board, although I like the color a lot. The other mahogany I’ve worked with has been very pale when freshly machined, even the heartwood that was a a bright rust-orange before cutting. The piece I bought has more orange-ish color even when freshly machined, and had nice dark flecks in the grain. I think it’s going to be pretty when finished, although I think I’ll likely use a darker dye on it rather than just oil as I did on the Blacker Sconces.

Stiled Machined

Since I was able to print out full scale drawings for the parts I could transfer the location for the joinery directly from my drawings to the stiles. I left the stiles long at the top as that mortise comes to within 1/8″ of the top edge. This way I can make the mortises (I’m routing them, then squaring then ends with a chisel) without worrying about breaking the end out. I *should* have done this at both ends., although I didn’t have a problem with the mortise blowing out I did need to clean up a bit of damage to the end of one stile and then all ended up a tiny bit shorter than I wanted. Rats.

Transferring the location for the mortises from the drawings

Mortises Done, Stiles Cut to Length

With the stiles done, it was time to blank out the rails and cut the tenons. Pretty straightforward stuff. I damaged the blade in my table saw recently. Twice. Don’t ask… Anyway, it leaves a rough edge that I need to clean up after cutting. Gotta replace that soon.

I cut the tenons and test fit a front and a side. I’m not happy with the way the grain runs in these pieces, and I wish I had a bit more set-back from the stile to the rails. 1/16″ isn’t enough. Maybe I can plane the faces a bit and get a little more shadow line at that joint. But the joinery fits wall and the tenons are all snug in the mortises. That’s a good thing.

Tenons cut, test fit

I rough cut the cloud lift detail in the front and back rails, then used a small rasp and sandpaper to shape it. I could do this with a router, but I’m trying to match the slightly uneven, slightly organic shape of the original.

Cloud Lift Details

Today I need to cut the rebates for the glass and the pierced detail on the top rails. I’m nervous about both of those. The recess for the glass isn’t just a rebate along the edges, on the top rails it has to extend behind the pierced detail. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that detail yet. I guess I’ll make a pattern to lay out the shape, then cut it out with a coping saw. Although I have *terrible* luck cutting anything with those. Maybe because mine is stamped out of pot metal in a third world country. I also need to decide what to do about the inlay bars in the lower front rail. I have a 1/8″ router bit, but that is too big for that. I need something smaller. Sounds like I need to buy a few little tools, maybe a Knew Concepts saw and some tiny router bits?

Yes, leather straps. My house has exposed beams in the entry hall and living room, so that part should work out pretty well. I ran into some problems making the “piercing” and I’m not happy with the results. I need to think on how to do a better job on that detail.